Machine for feeding paper tubes and crimping an end thereof



Aug. 20, 1957 GAZETTE 2,803,176

MACHINE FOR FEEDING PAPER TUBES AND CRIMPING AN END THEREOF Fi led Jan. 4, 1954 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Aug. 20, 1957 M. E. GAZETTE 2,803,176

MACHINE FOR FEEDING PAPER TUBES AND CRIMPING AN END THEREOF Filed Jan. 4, 1.954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4. 7 IJJIJIJIIIIII...

United States atent O MACHINE FOR FEEDING PAPER TUBES AND CRIMPING AN END THEREOF Marshall E. Gazette, Weymouth, Mass. Application January 4, 1954, Serial No; 401,864 4 Claims. (Cl. 93-365) This invention relates to a machine for feeding or advancing successive paper tubes, crimping an end of each tube and discharging the product.

In making cylindrical paper boxes or cartons such as are in common use for packaging such commodities as ice-cream, oysters and other wet or liquid food-stulfs, a paper tube of desired diameter and wall thickness is formed and cut into lengths in accordance with the desired capacity of the finished container. The next step is to crimp or curl the edge at one end of each cut length of tube. The present invention relates to a machine by which the crimping step is automatically performed. The machine has a chute into which tubes are loaded. These tubes are successively advanced to an operating station where they are briefly held while an end is crimped or curled and are then discharged.

For a more complete understanding of the invention reference may be had to the following description thereof and to the drawing, of which Figure l is a rear elevation of a machine embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the same;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a sample product of the machine, with a portion broken away to show in section;

Figure 4 is a sectional view, on a larger scale, of a portion of the machine shown in Figure 1;

Figures 5, 6 and 7 are sections on the line 5 of Figure 4, showing successive stages of operation of the carrier;

Figure 8 is a plan view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Figure 4;

Figure 9 is a section on the line 99 of Figure 4;

Figure 10 is a front elevation of a portion of the apparatus shown in Figure 4, in a different position of operation;

Figures 11 and 12 are fragmentary sections showing stages of the crimping operation to produce an outward curl; and

Figure 13 is a fragmentary section showing an inward curl on the tube end.

The mechanism illustrated in Figure 1 has a base on which are parallel side plates 22 and 24 having bearings for several shafts including a drive shaft 26 on which is a pulley 28 for a belt (not shown) to connect with a source of power. The shaft has a pinion 30 which meshes with a gear wheel 32 on a shaft 34. The latter has a pinion which meshes with a gear wheel 38 keyed on a sleeve 40 (Figure 4) journalled in the plates 22 and 24. Through this sleeve a shaft 42 extends and is axially slidable therein. Relative rotation of the sleeve and shaft is prevented by a pin 44 which projects radially from the shaft through a longitudinal slot 46 in the sleeve, the slot permitting limited axial movement of the shaft. A compression spring 48 surrounds a part of the :sleeve 40 and presses against a collar 50 in which the outer portion of the rim 44 is seated, so that the shaft 42 is resiliently pressed toward the right as shown in Figure 4. A fixed tubular cam member 52 is secured to the frame plate 24 and has a cam edge 54 engaged by a cam follower 56 projecting radially from the shaft 42. The spring 48 keeps the cam follower 56 in contact with the cam 54 as the shaft rotates so that the shaft is axially reciprocated with each revolution thereof for a purpose hereinafter explained.

Mounted on the left-hand end of the sleeve 40 is a carrier for a paper tube. The carrier consists of a hollow semi-cylinder 60 secured at one end to the sleeve 40 and open at the other end and a disc 62 on the end of the shaft 42. The semi-cylinder 60 is coaxial with the sleeve 40 and the shaft 42. The carrier rotates constantly with the sleeve and shaft and receives paper tubes T from a chute 64 (Figure 2) which is inclined so that the tubes are fed to the carrier by gravity and enter the carrier one by one as the open side of the semi-cylinder is presented to the chute as in Figure 7. After the leading tube has entered the carrier, the others are held back by the semi-cylinder (Figure 6) until the tube in the carrier has been discharged to a discharge chute 66 and the open side of the semi-cylinder is again presented to the chute 64. A top guide 68 is'mounted over the chute 64 to prevent the paper tubes from climbing over the carrier.

In the interval between the entrance of a tube into the receptacle and its discharge therefrom, an end of the tube is curled or crimped by being pressed against a crimping chuck 70 which consists of a disc having a circular groove 72 in its face arranged to receive an end of a tube in the carrier. As indicated in Figures 4 and 11, the groove 72 has a semi-circular cross-section and its inner diameter is equal to the inner diameter of a tube. The crimping chuck is preferably heated by any convenient means such as a unit 73 against the rear face thereof. The width of the groove 72 is at least twice the thickness of the tube wall. Hence when the end of a tube is pushed against the chuck 70, the wall of the tube at that end is curled outward, as shown in Figures 11 and 12, to form a head 74. The end of the tube wall may be made to curl inward by employing a chuck 70 having a circular groove 72 on its face with an outer diameter'equal to the outer diameter of a tube T. This forms an inner bead 74 as indicated in Figure 13. The cam 54 is designed and adjusted so that as soon as a tube enters the carrier 60, the shaft 42 and disc 62 start to move slowly toward the left (Figures 1 and 4), pushing the left hand end of the tube into the groove 72 of the chuck 70 as the shaft continues to turn. After the carrier has turned to a sufliciently inverted position to discharge the tube by gravity, the disk 62 is shifted toward the right by the spring 48, releasing the tube which then falls from the carrier to the discharge chute 66.

When the disc 62 pushes a tube T to the left against the chuck 70, the tube is rotating with the disc, the surface of which is rough for frictional engagement with the end of the tube in contact therewith. The other end of the tube rubs against the smooth surface of the groove 72 as the tube rotates and is curled to form a bead 74. The chuck 70 may be held stationary or if a more pronounced rubbing action is desired, it may be rotated the opposite direction to the rotation of the tube. For this purpose the chuck 70 may be mounted on the end of a shaft which is journalled in a bearing 82 carried by a vertical plate 84 which also carries a bearing 86. A shaft 88 extends through the bearing 86 and also through hearings on the plates 22 and 24. The shafts 80 and 88 can be operatively connected by belts (not shown) on pulley wheels 90 and 92 which are mounted on the respective shafts. Also on the shaft 88 is another pulley wheel 94 for a belt (not shown) by which this shaft can be operatively connected to a pulley wheel 96 on the shaft 34. With belts on the pulleys shown, the chuck 70 will be rotated in a direction opposite to that of the carrier 60.

To accommodate tubes of different lengths, the plate 84 is preferably adjustable toward or from the plate 22 by conventional adjusting means including a hand wheel 98 which is mounted on a screw-threaded member within a tubular member 100 which is carried by the frame plates 22 and 24, the pulley wheel 92 being splined to the shaft 88 so that it can move axially thereon,

I claim:

1. Apparatus for crimping an end of a paper tube, comprising a hollow semi-cylinder having a head at one end only, a shaft coaxial with said semi-cylinder projecting from said head, means for rotating said shaft and semi-cylinder, a crimping chuck mounted adjacent to the other end of the semi-cylinder and coaxial therewith, and means operating to press said tube toward said chuck during a part of each revolution of said semi-cylinder.

2. Apparatus for crimping an end of a paper tube, comprising a frame, a tubular sleeve horizontally jourrialled in the frame, a hollow semi-cylinder having a head at one end secured to an end of said sleeve, said semicylinder being coaxial with said sleeve, a shaft rotatably fitted in said sleeve and projecting through said head, a disc on the end of said shaft in said semi-cylinder, a crimping chuck supported by said frame opposite to said disc, and means actuating said shaft as it rotates to move said disc toward and from said chuck, said actuating means including a fixed cam carried by said frame and extending around said shaft, a cam follower projecting radially from said shaft, and spring means pressing said follower against said cam.

3. In a machine for operating on paper tubes, a chute adapted to hold a series of tubes in side to side contact, means for successively picking the leading tube from the series, retaining said tube briefly in an operating position, and discharging the tube from said position, said means including a hollow semi-cylinder rotatably supported adjacent to the lower end of said chute in a position to receive a tube from the chute, and means for rotating said semi-cylinder, a crimping chuck arranged to engage one end of said tube, and means for pressing the tube in the semi-cylinder axially toward said crimping chuck during a substantial portion of each revolution of the semi-cylinder.

4. In a machine for operating on paper tubes, a chute adapted to hold a series of tubes in side to side contact, and means for successively picking the leading tube from the series, retaining said tube briefly in an operating position, and discharging the tube from said position, said means including a hollow semi-cylinder rotatably supported adjacent to the lower end of said chute in a position' to receive a tube from the chute, and means for rotating said semi-cylinder, in combination with means for crimping an end of each said tube while supported by said semi-cylinder, said crimping means including a crimping chuck mounted coaxial with said semi-cylinder and near one end thereof, and means operating during a portion of each revolution of the semi-cylinder to press the tube supported by said semi-cylinder toward said chuck.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

